FISHING AND THE PRE-MIX FUEL ISSUE (JULY 28)

AS the fishing season draws closer to its peak, with high expectations of a bumper harvest, fishermen in the country have been left in limbo following the reported shortage of premix fuel on the market, making it difficult for fishermen to make a good catch.
From Keta, Tema, Accra, Cape Coast, through to Axim, fishermen have expressed deep concern over the situation and called on the government to take steps to address it.
Although officials of the Premix Fuel Secretariat have described the shortage as temporary and even claimed last week that they released more than 405,000 litres of the product for exclusive distribution in the fishing communities, enquiries indicate that the problem is far from resolved.
As a result, many fishermen have abandoned their canoes at the beaches with no hope in sight. Meanwhile, assurances that normal supply of the product will be restored on the market soon are not generating the desired hope.
While the public is being deprived of the anticipated bumper catch, which is expected to reduce the price of fish on the market, the perennial nature of the problem has occasioned calls for the abolition of the government policy on subsidising premix fuel.
The chief advocate of this position is the President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, who has articulated the view that the solution to the acute shortage of premix fuel is for the government to remove the subsidy on the product and allow fishermen to buy it at the market price.
According to him, the policy, as it stands now, lends itself to corruption and so abolishing it will clean the system of corrupt practices.
He further argued that instead of the subsidy on premix fuel, the government should rather subsidise the cost incurred by fishermen in storing fish in cold stores in order to ensure that only fishermen who used premix fuel for the intended purpose benefited from the facility.
Having considered the perennial problem associated with the supply of premix fuel and the subsequent effect it has had on the occupation of fishermen in the country, the DAILY GRAPHIC believes that the time has come for the government to take another look at its policy on subsidising premix fuel.
Certainly, nobody needs to be told that the policy, in its current form, is fraught with many problems and a review will be a very prudent exercise to undertake to salvage the fishing industry from its present predicament.
In as much as the suggestion made by Mr Oteng-Gyasi to remove the subsidy on premix fuel and rather subside the storage of fish for fishermen may be laudable, there is the need to explore other alternatives to bring a lasting solution to this problem.
The DAILY GRAPHIC, therefore, supports the holding of a stakeholders’ meeting, including fishermen, who are the direct beneficiaries, to address the issue.
We firmly believe that there can be a better way of dealing with the premix fuel challenge and the earlier we do it, the better it will be for the nation.